Threefold Architects have designed a new penthouse at the top of a central Moscow apartment building for a Russian client who spent his early adult life in Paris.

The project involves the creation of a pair of linear pavilions, separated by a glazed slot, which brings light into the heart of the apartment. Eschewing the open plan of an urban loft the scheme embraces the traditions of European apartment arrangements. The spaces are an ordered matrix of adjoining rooms which can be opened up or closed off from one another.

Inspired by the formal gardens of Versailles, the design of each space has an individual geometry and orientation, framing specific views of the city. Varied apertures in the ceiling scape capture and filter natural light differently in every room, lending each a unique character and atmosphere.